|
CII
TO LAUNCH A “INDIA-CHINA” WEBSITE
In
its commitment to strengthen India-China economic partnership,
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has decided to highlight and
address the key issues that need to be addressed between Chinese and
Indian businesses, that is, bridging the information and
communications gap.
This
commitment stems from the fact that the current level of trade and
economic cooperation is not commensurate with the potential.The
current bilateral trade figures stand at USD 5 billion per annum.
However, it has potential to reach USD 10 billion within three
years.
Trade
and Investment levels between India and China are expected to
receive a fillip due to the visit of the Prime Minister, Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee later this month. Keeping in sync with this
perspective, CII has sought to focus on 10 economic issues and 6
general issues that will help further the India and China
relationship.
Limited
Information Accessibility to Chinese regulations is often cited as a
deterrent for Indian companies. In order to address the same, CII is
launching a website on “India & China: Economic
Co-operation” next week, during the Prime Minister's visit to
China.
Easing
of visa procedures also figures on the list of issues that have been
drawn up by the CII.
Amongst
the other general issues, lack of adequate Indian media
representation in China has been quoted as a “dampener” when it
comes to strengthening India-China ties. CII believes that increased
media representation is one of the pre-requisites for developing and
sustaining ties.
A
series of surveys conducted by CII on Indian corporate houses based
in China suggests that lack of educational facilities for
Indians in China is one of the basic issues that needs urgent
attention. One of the suggestions includes setting up of an Indian
school in China.
Experience
suggests that Chinese corporates have very limited understanding of
Indian products and companies and this hampers business
negotiations. The awareness of the “Made in India” label needs
to be heightened and CII will organise a “Made in India” show
and a “Hi-Tech” show in Beijing, China in October later this
year.
Among
the range of economic issues between India and China, the foremost
is the narrow window of trade. The top five items of trade between
India and China are primary or low-value added products, which
include iron ore, plastics and linoleum, ores and minerals, marine
products and pharmaceuticals. Whereas the Indian imports from
China include electronic goods, coal-coke, organic chemicals, silk,
silver and drugs and pharmaceuticals. Diversification of the export
basket has come across has one of the key recommendations from
analysts. It is vital that India diversifies its exports to China
and increases the number of intermediary and finished goods in its
basket. Some of the high-demand products for export to China include
chemicals, steel, automotive components, medical and diagnostic
products, processed food, software, engineering goods, shoes,
garments and cosmetics.
Over
the last few years, a need has been felt to set up an institutional
mechanism, which will monitor and recommend changes to increase
trade and investment. CII will launch a Private Sector
“India - China CEOs Forum” to develop a focussed agenda for
action on greater economic co-operation between the two countries.
Dumping
of goods needs to be addressed through a strong bilateral dispute
resolution mechanism. Introduction of an “early warning
system” and resolution on an industry-institutional level have
been put forth as recommendations to address the issue.
CII
stresses that there is much that needs to be done to promote
India-China ties. A 35-member CII delegation to China led by CII
President, Mr Anand Mahindra hopes to help address the key issues
and concerns for fostering a strong India-China economic
partnership. The CII delegation to China coincides with the visit of
the Prime Minister of India between June 22nd and June 27th
to Beijing and Shanghai.
New
Delhi
18 June 2003 Top
|
